Chief Adviser (CA) Fakhruddin Ahmed has reaffirmed that the general election will be held before the end of next December and urged voters to elect honest and capable candidates, taking it as their social responsibility.

Over the last 30 years, successive governments' reluctance to formulate a policy for Bangladesh Film Archive (BFA), prepare a decent organogram for it and their use of the BFA for political purposes turned it into a poorly functioning institution.

A fresh controversy is racking Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) as the corporation authorities are getting ready to give permanent appointments to 72 temporary staff just ahead of the new mayor-elect's induction to the office.

Dhaka University (DU) teachers and students observed 'Black Day' yesterday marking last year's campus unrest that led to the arrest of several teachers and students on charges of breaking the Emergency Power Rules.

Police authorities yesterday asked owners of garment factories in Tejgaon Industrial Area to pay workers their salaries, tiffin, iftar and other allowances in time during Ramadan since non-payment of them often leads to unrest in this month.

Hosts China made sure on Saturday of topping the Olympics medals table for the first time, dethroning the United States which had dominated the last three Games since finishing second to the former Soviet Union in Barcelona in 1992.

A doctor who sits on all the three medical boards formed for detained Tarique Rahman's treatment yesterday recommended the authorities send the senior joint secretary general of the BNP abroad for treatment.

Barack Obama named Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware as his vice presidential running mate early Saturday, balancing his ticket with a seasoned congressional veteran well-versed in foreign policy and defence issues.

UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari failed to meet detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi before he left Myanmar yesterday, an apparent setback in his bid to promote democratic reforms in the country.

India's ruling Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is impressed by Grameen Bank's 'huge success' in Bangladesh, and has said he wants to propagate the concept of micro financing and self-help groups across India.

Editorial

AFTER one decade and a half of deliberations marked by repeated drafting of a law to provide protection to consumer rights, often blatantly violated in a patently sellers' market, we have, at long last, the final draft approved by the council of advisers. Under the ordinance, not merely retailers would be penalised or imprisoned for shortchanging customers in price, quality, weight and measure but an aggrieved consumer could seek remedy against any unfair practice adopted by a producer, manufacturer or distributor of goods and services. Cheating consumers through false advertisement about product features and selling of adulterated foods will be liable for punishment.

THERE has regularly been talk of latent talent lying generally undiscovered all over Bangladesh. Such talent has not so often been spotted and brought into the limelight. Against this backdrop, on Friday, Celebrating Life, a cultural event organised by The Daily Star in association with Standard Chartered Bank brought to the fore an array of talented young people in such fields as lyrics, photography and documentary films. What Celebrating Life asserts is the principle that searching for talent throughout the length and breadth of the country cannot but be a continuous, deeply satisfying affair. In this connection, the quality of the lyrics, photography and films that was on display on Friday was a very strong indication of how much more can be spotted and harnessed in Bangladesh through such culture-specific steps. Indeed, with such aspects of culture not adequately focused on in recent times, it is important that more be done to reinforce the traditions that have historically solidified our society.

WHY did the rice price not fall after a bumper boro harvest? We all have been hunting for an answer to this crucial question that made policy makers perturbed and astonished academicians. Historically, harvest sales led to an augmentation of supply in the market to reduce price down in the post-harvest period.

DEMOCRACY," writes Francis Fukuyama, "is the right held universally by all citizens to have a share of political power that is the right of all citizens to vote and participate in politics. The right to participate in political power can be thought of as yet another liberal right-- indeed the most important one -- and it for this reason that liberalism has been closely associated historically with democracy."

PRESIDENT General Parvez Musharraf is not a popular figure in India. He is associated with the war at Kargil, where New Delhi's loss in terms of men was heavy. His abrupt withdrawal from the Agra summit, on being accused of encouraging militant across the border, still rankles in the minds of people.

Sports

Argentina remain Olympic football champions after a goal engineered by superstar Lionel Messi inspired them to a 1-0 win over former champions Nigeria in the gold medal match at the Beijing Games on Saturday.

The third warm-up match again showed how good a batting track the Gardens Oval has as the Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) chased Bangladesh's 270 with 11 balls and five wickets to spare here yesterday.

Farashganj Sporting Club had two reasons to celebrate yesterday at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. First, it was their clinical 2-0 victory over Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra in their last Group A match and second, and most importantly, the win helped them avoid giants Mohammedan Sporting Club in the upcoming quarterfinals.

Triple Olympic sprint gold medalist Jamaican Usain Bolt on Saturday made a personal donation of 50,000 dollars to children in the earthquake-stricken Sichuan Province, and wished people there to "get through from the tragedy" and move forward with the inspiration of the Olympic Games.

Anil Kumble, India's Test captain, has backed his senior middle-order batsmen against criticisms on their poor performance on the Sri Lanka tour. Kumble said it was harsh since they had been performing over the last decade.

Induced by huge response from customers, the Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (Desco) will bring more areas under its pre-paid meter system to relieve them of bill payment hassles through banks and prevent misuse of electricity.

The monitoring taskforce of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) in association with government agencies concerned will monitor the price situation to keep the prices of essential commodities stable during Ramadan.

Energy experts said yesterday the government should immediately establish coal-fired power plants, even if it means that coal has to be imported, as it would take some time to extract local coal reserves to solve the power crisis in Dhaka.

It sounds like the ultimate solution for the low-cost traveller looking for a place for the night: a cubicle featuring a computer to surf the Internet plus a reclining chair to sleep in, though with barely enough room to stretch one's tired legs.

I'm sure you've heard of people getting to leadership positions and coming up with a first 100 day plan of action, going through brisk activities to get things done, thus setting the tone of their leadership style. However, the book, 'Chasing Daylight' is about the last 100 days of Eugene O'Kelly's life. This is his story; at the pinnacle of his life at 53 years, chairman and chief executive officer of KPMG (US), he discovers he has brain cancer and has only 3 months to live.

The Private Sector Consultative Board (PSCB) of the International Jute Study Group has appointed KR Hasan as chairman of the association, according to a press release. Prior to this appointment, Hasan was acting as the vice chairman of the association.

The shareholders of Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BPL) approved five percent cash and ten percent stock dividend, as recommended by the board of directors for the year 2007, at the 32nd annual general meeting (AGM), says a press release.

Rajshahi University (RU) authorities yesterday blamed the local businessmen for last Tuesday's clash between students and businessmen, including transport workers, that left 60 people, including teachers, students and policemen, injured.

Speakers at a discussion yesterday said in absence of a specific provision to punish the perpetrators of sexual harassment in the university acts and proctorial laws, the students are being exploited and harassed by some teachers.

Several hundred plainclothes policewomen will be deployed at the important shopping malls, markets and strategic points in the city as part of beefed up security measures to check robbery and snatching during Ramadan.

Women and Gender Studies department at Dhaka University is going to form a common platform titled 'Rokeya Network' with an aim to share ideas, knowledge and experience among the researchers, academicians and grassroots level workers who work in the gender-related fields.

The four-day real estate fair styled 'Abasan Mela' began in the port city yesterday with a view to bringing the real estate companies, intending customers and manufacturers of construction materials under one roof.

Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) yesterday formed a human chain on the Dhaka University campus demanding international investigation and punishment to the culprits of August 21 grenade attack incident on Awami League rally in 2004.

National

Encouraged by the results of recently held elections in four city corporations and nine pourasabhas, grass roots Awami League (AL) leaders and activists in Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts are now enthusiastic about participating in the upazila elections, whenever held.

Rangpur district fertiliser monitoring committee has made a proposal to the Director General (DG) of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) to take action against Pirganj Upazila agriculture officer for his involvement in the recent fertiliser scam in which 300 bags of TSP were sold in black market by a dealer.

It was a unique event for the people of remote Dhalbaria union in Kaliganj upazila where about 400 people including local government leaders at a meeting yesterday vowed to fight against acid violence.

Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) arrested 32 people including women and children from Gazipur border in Satkhira Sadar upazila and Kulia border in Debhata upazila while they were trying to go to India illegally.

Letters

It is a sad truth that our diplomats are not diplomatic enough when it comes to performing their duties. Once again our image has been blurred abroad due to poor diplomacy. The recent "Kuwait issue" is the living example of our poor diplomacy. In foreign countries, particularly in the Middle East, Bangladeshi workers have faced a lot of problems.

The readymade garments industry in Bangladesh is in jeopardy. It started a few years back--'the unrest', stoppage of work, creating havoc, and damaging valuable assets in and around the factories and even in the streets.

Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, is one of the well-known public universities of Bangladesh. But now it is facing many problems. Students of SUST are facing the problem of transportation, because the number of buses for the students is inadequate. There are nearly 6,000 students. Among them 4,000 are dependent on the university bus. But the number of buses is only 12. As a result, every day students have to struggle for seats. The sufferings of the female students know no bounds. Recently, the three advisers of the caretaker government inaugurated eight 'new' BRTC buses and an academic building. But the eight buses are new only on paper. These buses also have far fewer seats.

I appreciate the decision of the government and also of the judges on releasing political prisoners on medical grounds. Unfortunately, politicians are demanding the release of all prisoners even if they are convicted of corruption and murder. I am certain soon after the takeover of power the political government will release all the criminals or will influence the court to release them. I want the political government to take over power as soon as possible and at the same time I am afraid that godfathers will reappear again with their ugly faces and the helpless people will become more helpless. The irony is that I find many so called intellectuals supporting those criminals' release.

Almost every year our school children face a severe problem with their textbooks. The Textbook Board fails to send the books to all the students in the country before end February. Hence many students waste their valuable time for non-availability of new books in their new classes. But the board should make the necessary arrangement so that the students get the books after their annual exams.

Zia Udyan is one of most well-known places where thousands of people either in the morning or evening go for a walk or exercise for health reasons or to breath fresh air. Zia Udyan, a very cool place, has various kinds of trees and the Crescent Lake on the roadside has made the place even more attractive to the visitors. They usually converge at the lakeside for gossiping , little entertainment in an open place for a few hours.

Six people were killed in a landslide in Chittagong. It is not the first landslide accident. We hear from time to time the sad news of landslide in Chittagong that results in many deaths. During the rainy season when torrential rain takes place, landslide accidents occur. Yet, the authorities concerned pay very little attention to this issue.

US swimmer Phelps made Olympic history by becoming the first swimmer ever to win eight gold medals in one Olympic, overtaking his fellow US legend Mark Spitz's seven gold medals at Munich 36 years ago.

The majority of students at CU are not involved with the political parties. Their main intention is to complete the study for getting a good job. But campus violence seriously obstructs their progress.

March 26, 1971. From radio a voice of hope, an announcement of a lifetime, a direction for a nation, a piece of news for the world was heard. A war hero, a sector commander of Mujib Nagar Sarkar, a valiant freedom fighter, who later during the crisis period of the nation again came to the scene and took over power in his hands to rule the country, was speaking. Later he floated a political party to start the democratic process in this country. But he was brutally killed in a failed coup in 1981. This was the brief history of Major Zia, ex President Ziaur Rahman, commander of Z Force during the liberation war. During the liberation war he offered his life, during the crisis of 1975 he also came forward and finally he was killed while on duty for the country. The name of President Zia will ever be remembered with respect.

Yes, the sordid condition strikes us, stirs our senses as well. The expatriate labourers broke down in tears. Returning home they buried all hopes, aspirations and dreams not only theirs but also that of the near and dear ones. Many sold land, livestock, some even living place for bearing the expenditures. Now what they will do is a big question. As time goes on, people fall in different types of difficulties. The old wound will dry up; people will have new dreams. They can recover! I saw in my childhood Asane bhai, local name, our neighbour, collecting money to go to Saudi Arabia. And he went away. Staying there for a few years, he returned home carrying goods and a bagful of dreams! He could restore a bit of lost property. Then he flew for Saudi Arabia again. After that no one knows what happened to him. There's rumour that he went there illegally and the Saudi authorities caught and imprisoned him. After getting released he returned home. But they confiscated his money which he deposited there. He returned in a wretched condition. But where he took shelter no one knew. One night he emerged from somewhere else. People thronged to see him, which happens in villages. He left the village alone and forever! Alas! Asane bhai, the dream he dreamt broke down into debris. But some lessons remain for us.

Children often disregard poor parents and are less interested to visit them even once in a year. Even though “blood is thicker than water,” we Bangladeshis evade the responsibility of taking care of poor family members. I believe that harmonious family relationship is the basis of a healthy society. We have to pass down our traditional virtue of respecting our parents, regardless of their income and position in society. Things have changed a lot.

The Public Service Commission (PSC) showed the highest sense of responsibility by issuing a press release on 19 May 2008, clarifying the status of 27th BCS results. This is a rare case of showing respect to the public sentiment by a statutory body like the PSC. The people have the right to know the status of the results. The PSC, before anybody's pointing of finger, disclosed the truth before the public. The PSC, in other words, performed the job of ensuring people's right to information. Every government department should follow the example of the PSC.

I congratulate the caretaker government on its proposed Political Intelligence Office. It is imperative for the state to keep an eye on the people who have made the lives of anonymous, hardworking, ordinary people like me miserable, to put it mildly.

The long-term implications of the recent Indo-US nuclear pact have to be carefully analysed by the political players in Dhaka, on future Western ambitions in South Asia. Analysts in the media point out that the deal would open future US investment by more than USD 10 billion, and provide job security to more than 200,000 Americans.

A secretary proposed to the CA that the retirement age of government officials and employees be raised from the existing 57 years to pave the way for them to contribute more. It is good for the officials but bad for the unemployed young generation. On the other hand, judicial officials serve up to 67 and university teachers' retiring age is 65.

No doubt Asif could be a legend for Bangladesh. He might have won a gold for Bangladesh. But that has not happened. Let us look back. It was on 2nd October 2006 that we, the people of Bangladesh, were speechless. What happened on that day? Our boy Asif was beaten by the police and sent to court.

It will appear to any casual observer that in Bangladeshi politics the leaders do not have supporters or followers. They have slaves. These slaves blindly support their respective leaders, even if such leaders are grossly wrong, corrupt and unpatriotic. These slaves are mostly created by sycophants, and dalals (paid agents) employed by a leader in exchange of undue favour. The media, which in most cases in our country are owned by corrupt businessmen, also play a big role in making a corrupt person a big leader. What is most shocking is that many highly educated members of our civil society and intelligentsia shamelessly enrol(ed) themselves as the slaves of one leader or the other to become vice chancellors, pro vice chancellors, ambassadors, DGs etc.

It was a debatable issue since the Bangladesh Agricultural University was established. As formerly BAI was the first agricultural institute, it had the option to become a full university. Due to the nepotism of a political leader at that time it had to sacrifice that option. But the students, teachers, well wishers did not deviate from their mission of setting up a university.

Tsunami is a series of very long waves generated by any rapid, large scale disturbance of the sea or by sea floor displacements from large undersea earthquakes. Thus tsunami is defined as a large destructive ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake or some other movement of the earth's surface or some geologic processes like undersea landslide or volcanic eruption.

A top Russian general yesterday said his country's forces will continue to patrol a main Georgian Black Sea port city even though it lies outside the 'security zones" where Russia claims it has the right to station soldiers on Georgian territory.

Senior Pentagon officials are debating whether the US military should undertake independent operations against Islamic militants operating in Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas, The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.The newspaper said these internal debates followed US intelligence warnings that al-Qaeda and other militant groups are consolidating their hold on northwestern Pakistan.

Pakistani Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani Saturday said his government would not negotiate with militants but would tackle the poverty and unemployment at the root of the unrest, which has claimed hundreds of lives.

Republic Nepal's first Premier Prachanda, whose Leftist group's main target were security personnel before it gave up the decade-long insurgency in 2006, today appealed to armed forces and police to "forget the bitterness of the past" and extend support to his government.

The United States and North Korea held talks Friday to break a deadlock over measures to verify Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme that could pave the way for removing the hardline communist state from a terrorism blacklist.

Arts & Entertainment

August 22, 2008: As the guests among whom were the Chief Adviser to the caretaker government, diplomats, renowned artistes and others, took their seats at the Plenary Hall, Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre, dancers of Nrityadhara took the stage. Accompanied by an instrumental piece -- featuring setar, tabla and banshi -- composed by Shimul Yousuf, the dance was choreographed by Minu Haque in association with Munmun Ahmed, Kabirul Islam Ratan and Dipa Khandoker and highlighted the seasons of Bangladesh. As one group of dancers in saffron and crimson enacted the season of summer, another group in blue depicted monsoon. Then came the hide-and-seek of the sun and clouds. One after another, groups of dancers enacted the serenity of autumn, the shrouds of winter and the colours of spring. The composition was a meticulously planned fusion of different classical dances like Kathak, Manipuri and Bharatnatyam.

“In ancient times, kings and emperors were patrons of arts and cultural practices. Unfortunately, there are no such patrons now. But cultural activities do need sponsorship and the few patrons in our country mostly concentrate on the popular aspects of art. So I thought why not arrange a platform for talented young individuals scattered all over the country in different sectors apart from the performing arts. When I approached our editor, Mahfuz Anam, he gave his consent at once. The event needed financial backing and Standard Chartered Bank, one of the corporate giants, came forward to sponsor it. We have searched for the talents through an extended period of time and I'm proud to say we have come across some impressive and creative individuals."

Mahfuz Anam, Editor and Publisher, The Daily Star: “It is easy to feel frustrated and we find ourselves burdened with challenges. We often overlook our achievements. Through this competition we wanted to celebrate everything that encourages us.

Selim Newaj Bhuiyan:Selim Newaj Bhuiyan of Dinajpur received the first prize in the photography category. Expressing his reaction on receiving the award, Selim said, "Definitely this is one of my happiest moments. I have been involved with photography since 1983 as an amateur and have won many awards. But this award is special to me because the theme of this competition is quite timely at present. I hope this competition will be held every year and open a window of opportunity for promising photographers."

Hamiduzzaman Khan is a Bangladeshi sculptor who has carved a path distinctly his own in our art arena with significant forms, themes and variations of work. Hamiduzzaman, may be regarded by art critics and other art experts as having been most influential in the 60s, but in effect he has continued to exercise a profound sway not only over art in this region but also of the contemporary art world in general.

Smrititey O Srijoney Tumi, a documentary on recently deceased theatre personality and filmmaker Abdullah Al Mamun, will be aired on August 25 at 6:45 pm on ntv. The documentary is directed by Nazmul Huda Shapla and Swikriti Prashad Barua.

Olympic superstar Michael Phelps will write a book telling the story behind his historic eight gold medal swims just in time for the holiday season, Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, announced Friday.

OP-ED

Aprevious study found that there is a strong relationship between per capita income (PCI) and several indices such as life expectancy, infant mortality, male and female illiteracy rates, percent urban population, commercial energy use, etc. All the indices improve with the increase in the PCI. The implication of this important finding is: if the Bangladeshi development practitioners and policy-makers can increase the national PCI, improvements in the socio-economic indices will naturally follow.

IF an offender, say a murderer, is not punished and the judge trying him sets him free on the plea that the prosecution case was not strong enough in terms of evidence produced, and other legal nuances, to warrant punishing the accused, who is to blame for allowing a criminal like this to go unpunished and commit many more such heinous crimes and terrorise the people in the society?

THROUGH text messaging and e-mails, Democratic presumptive nominee Senator Barack Obama let his millions of supporters know early Saturday morning that former presidential candidate, Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, will be his vice presidential running mate. The selection of Joe Biden was widely anticipated and predicted. Biden is considered a "safe" choice, who fills in the foreign affairs and national security voids in Obama's resume. Senator Biden is the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The postal department saw a good response from clients in the first one month of working as the principal agent of Western Union -- an internationally renowned money transfer service provider -- in Bangladesh.